Supreme Court Denies Family Farmers the Right to Self-Defense From Monsanto Lawsuits

The U.S. Supreme Court today issued a decision in the landmark federal lawsuit, Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association (OSGATA) et al v. Monsanto. Farmers were denied the right to argue their case in court and gain protection from potential abuse by the agrochemical and genetic engineering giant, Monsanto. Additionally, the high court decision dashes the hopes of family farmers who sought the opportunity to prove in court Monsanto’s genetically engineered seed patents are invalid.

Farmers had sought Court protection should they become the innocent victims of contamination by Monsanto’s patented technology they could not be sued for patent infringement, but their case was denied by the court. Photo courtesy of Shutterstock

“While the Supreme Court’s decision to not give organic and other non-GMO farmers the right to seek preemptive protection from Monsanto’s patents at this time is disappointing, it should not be misinterpreted as meaning that Monsanto has the right to bring such suits,” said Daniel Ravicher, executive director of the Public Patent Foundation and lead counsel to the plaintiffs in OSGATA et al v. Monsanto.

“Indeed, in light of the Court of Appeals decision, Monsanto may not sue any contaminated farmer for patent infringement if the level of contamination is less than one percent,” Ravicher explained. “For farmers contaminated by more than one percent, perhaps a day will come to address whether Monsanto’s patents may be asserted against them. We are confident that if the courts ever hear such a case, they will rule for the non-GMO farmers.”

Farmers had sought Court protection under the Declaratory Judgment Act that should they become the innocent victims of contamination by Monsanto’s patented gene-splice technology they could not perversely be sued for patent infringement.

“The Supreme Court failed to grasp the extreme predicament family farmers find themselves in,” said Maine organic seed farmer Jim Gerritsen, president of lead plaintiff OSGATA. “The Court of Appeals agreed our case had merit. However, the safeguards they ordered are insufficient to protect our farms and our families.”

“This high court which gave corporations the ability to patent life forms in 1980, and under Citizens United in 2010 gave corporations the power to buy their way to election victories, has now in 2014 denied farmers the basic right of protecting themselves from the notorious patent bully Monsanto,” said Gerritsen.

The historic lawsuit was filed in 2011 in Federal District Court in Manhattan. The large plaintiff group numbers 83 individual American and Canadian family farmers, independent seed companies and agricultural organizations whose combined memberships total more than one million citizens, including many non-GMO farmers and over 25 percent of North America’s certified organic farmers.

“The Appellate Court decision could leave Canadian farmers out in the cold because their protection may not extend to Canada at all,” said Saskatchewan organic grain farmer Arnold Taylor, a member of plaintiff member Canadian Organic Growers. “Like many Canadian farmers, we sell crop into the U.S. and can therefore be liable to claims of patent infringement by Monsanto.”

In a complicated ruling issued in June 2013 by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C., American farmers were handed a partial victory when the three justices agreed with the farmers’ assertion that contamination by Monsanto was inevitable. The justices ordered Monsanto not to sue American farmers whose fields were contaminated with trace amounts of patented material, which the Court defined as 1 percent.

In a related situation, Canadian soybean farmer Stephen Webster of Ontario experienced just how abusively Monsanto treats innocent contamination victims. Through no fault of his own Webster, who farms with his elderly father, had his 2012 identify-preserved non-GMO soybean crop contaminated by Monsanto’s patented genetically engineered seed. Their soybeans were ruined for export to specialty markets in Japan.

“First Monsanto claimed we had too many bees and that we were at fault for the contaminated crop,” said Webster. “Then they threatened to run up $100,000 in legal bills that we would have to pay.” Tragically, Webster’s story is the norm in farm country, with Monsanto using its extreme economic power to silence family farmers even before they can legally defend themselves.

Notably, none of the plaintiffs are customers of Monsanto. None have signed licensing agreements with Monsanto. The plaintiffs do not want Monsanto’s seed and they do not want Monsanto’s gene-spliced technology and have sought legal protection from significant economic harm to their businesses and way of life.

“We have a fourth generation farm,” said organic dairy farmer and plaintiff Rose Marie Burroughs of California Cloverleaf Farms. “Monsanto cannot be trusted. Their refusal to provide a binding legal covenant not to sue our fellow farmers would make anyone wonder, what are their real motives? GMO contamination levels can easily rise above one percent and then we would have zero protection from a costly and burdensome lawsuit.”

Significant contamination events, including Starlink corn and LibertyLink rice, have already cost farmers and the food companies nearly $2 billion dollars. In the past year alone, the discovery of Monsanto’s illegal GMO wheat in an Oregon farmer’s field and GMO alfalfa in Washington state sent foreign markets, where GMOs are not wanted, reeling. In both instances farmers’ economic livelihoods were put at risk as buyers in foreign markets refused to buy the GMO contaminated crops.

“If Monsanto can patent seeds for financial gain, they should be forced to pay for contaminating a farmer’s field, not be allowed to sue them,” said Dave Murphy, founder and executive director of Food Democracy Now! “Once again, America’s farmers have been denied justice, while Monsanto’s reign of intimidation is allowed to continue in rural America.”

“Monsanto has effectively gotten away with stealing the world’s seed heritage and abusing farmers for the flawed nature of their patented seed technology,” said Murphy. “This is an outrage of historic proportions and will not stand.”

Comments

must be nice to have a former monsanto employee sitting on the supreme court

Guy

The “illustrious” Oregon Governor and Legislature passed a law that PERMITS ONLY the STATE (with one excepted county who already had a law to ALLOW the county to make that determination) to regulate the importation/sale of ANY KIND of seeds in this state. Smacks of MONSANTO MONEY all over it. GOODBYE OREGON AGRICULTURE (the MAJOR industry in Oregon).

Monika Hancock

Its amazing how They can make the rules however They need them, even if it goes against all human logic. Makes my blood boil!!

Botez Alin Eduard

The soviets claimed they could grow square tomatoes thanks to the “proletarian science”, however the brains within Monsanto corporation seem to be even more evolved monkeys. And since they are even more ferocius than the indians, you people should wipe them out too, otherwise the future isn’t going to be bright.

marel

Don’t buy their products, educate everyone about toxic food, don’t vote for corrupt political parties, go for independents, do not listen to sold media, educate yourself…

Botez Alin Eduard

For now, no fly wings have pushed on the backs of those who ate Monsanto food. But when this will eventually occur, you guys will need a lot of Guantanamo-like camps: there’ll be airspace violation everywhere !

Cammy

Where’s the outrage. This is just wrong. Come on President Obama, don’t you remember the promises you made in 2007?

Karen

Seriously Cammy….President Obama never had any intention of honoring his promises…

danny347

President Obama has no power here until one of those corporate stooge justices dies and he ca appoint someone better to replace them.

Namenomnomnom

“In December 2009, in her capacity as Solicitor General, Kagan intervened in the first case on which SCOTUS will rule involving genetically modified crops, Monsanto v Geertson Seed. She defended Monsanto’s fight to contaminate the environment with its GM alfalfa, not the American people’s right to safe feed and a protected environment.”

Obama doesn’t care…..None of them do….they have their own “safe” gmo free gardens….it sickens me. It’s called population control, that’s what they’re doing to our country….I look forward to the day the Lord comes back and takes us into a gmo free kingdom, and the rest of them doing this to us can rot in hell.

Kate

Obama has sold out to Monsanto, just look at who he appointed as the Food Czar- the former Monsanto chief lobbyist- and Obama has installed former Monsanto employees in key decision making posts at the USDA and FDA. You can not count on this President to keep his commitments or to protect the interests of anyone other than Corporations.

Notborn Yesterday

This company has declared war on farmers. Those it cannot use as pawns
it will destroy. It seems to be a question of “mobilise or be
destroyed”. The law, which has been bought (and paid for cheap) will no
longer protect the individual. Precious common law no longer exists for
it went the same way as the U.S. Constitution with hardly a murmur.

We
ARE at war. During war time, the enemy must be destroyed or
incapacitated. We don’t go down without a fight. That’s about all I dare
to say, and its probably too much already.

http://wiseoldsnail.org/ wiseoldsnail

too much for your own safety, not remotely enough for those who still believe in this corrupt system

Fortuna

I think it unwise for the Supreme court to allow a company to prey upon the agrarian roots of our civilization. Those farm boys are the marines who win the wars. Getting bloody is all in a day’s work, whether it’s on the farm or on the battlefield. Fortune favors the brave, and the die is cast. Even Robert Gates knows what is coming.

Corlia

Really, then we’ve morphed into some bastardized form of corporatism. America is no more.

Michael Dunfee

They have been banned from all other countries but ours now.

kat

yup, I just wish more people would stand up and fight them, but it honestly feels like a losing battle. So sad, don’t even know what to eat anymore or if you can even “trust” the label that says “non gmo” because we are always being lied to…..

Mike D

One thing is for sure, when I go grocery shopping I don’t eat anything from the US. No offence intended.

susan

This is a very sad day. What a corrupt government we have. We need to stop the Secret #TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership) to keep Monsanto and other big corporations from having total control to do whatever they want to us. Let’s do this! Contact your reps and tell them to Vote No on TPP Fast Track! Share this stuff!

The
Trans Pacific Partnership is our worst nightmare.. It will affect
everything from GMOs and labeling, food safety, environmental issues,
public health, jobs, the internet and much more and will give nearly
unlimited power to the big corporations. Let’s Stop It!

The TPP Fast Track bill has been introduced in the House and Senate and could be voted on any day.

Its going to be easy to destroy America now BWAHAHAHAHA! All I need is just a few genetically altered seeds that die before harvest. These stupid people will even let me sue them after their farms collapse! Have fun going back to the neolithic age and starting over!

https://www.facebook.com/andy1x Stephen Anderson

what will happen,is because,the political system,and the judicial system,are so entrenched ,in CORPORATE-POLITICAL-CORRUPTION.people will take the law into,there own hands,as they are becomming ,more and more aware,thanks to the internet,of POLITICAL-AND-CORPORATE -CORRUPTION.people will start researching personal information,on line of POLITICIANS-CORRUPT-CORPORATE-OFFICIALS,-JUDICIARY,POLICE-ETC. and they will attack them in there homes,there families,destroy there business,bulidings,etc,and im sure no one wants this,but there will be hot heads,that do this,sadly,and when it happens,it will be difficult to stop,–so barack -obama-should be acting now,-to kill this corruption,or god help us all.

Justin Bilyj

The supreme court justices should be tried for treason, we should start over fresh. Too many crooks are sitting on there. Thomas should be executed for this poisonous treason on the American people. He has spoken for his corporate masters.

http://aircrap.org/ Dave Murphy

SCREW MONSANTO MASSIVE FUSION POWER NOW!!! WATER FOR NORTH AMERICA NAWAPA 21!

International Crash Program For A Fusion Economy

September 7, 2013 • 3:01AM

“International Crash Program For A Fusion Economy” is as part of a package of articles published by 21st Century Science and Technology Magazine, on the perspective for mankind’s coming four generations. This article details the necessity of mankind embarking on an immediate, international, collaborative crash program to achieve controlled thermonuclear-fusion power generation in the short term, along with other ultra-high technology industrial applications of fusion technology.

Be sure to also read:
The Nuclear-Thermonuclear NAWAPA XXI
The Nuclear NAWAPA XXI & The New Economy
Nuclear Agro-Industrial Complexes for NAWAPA XXI
The Pacific Development Corridor: Maglev Through The Bering Strait

A class action lawsuit by farmers that have been economically damaged by “contamination” of their crops by Monsanto’s patented GMO varieties, will give those farmers a reasonable chance in court (reasonable being the ability to have adequate representation). A win against Monsanto in that case will put them out of the GMO business forever.

antisandman

Interestingly a front page article in the New York Times of Sunday January 5 covered the GMO debate in Hawaii, the big island. The article ran for more than two full pages and tried to present a picture of balanced reporting. It was anything but. The reporter said that there was no documented case of Monsanto being taken to court over GMOs. She did not mention Percy Schmeiser and his case that went to the Canadian Supreme Court. Nor did she mention the hundreds of farmers that have paid up rather than be sued by Monsanto for patent infringement when accidental growth of GMO crops was discovered on their property.
She also stated that the rats used in the study that showed tumor growth were from a strain created to be prone to tumors. She omitted the fact that there was a control group which was from the same strain and showed little or no tumor growth when fed a non-GMO diet. Such “balanced and accurate reporting” is the reason I seldom waste my time reading the NYT except to point out how they frame the debate from the 1%’s perspective such as this case.

Ann Ludington

I think Monsanto infestations should be treated like oil spills. They should be billed for all cleanup and damages that their wandering crops cause. There are too many people that actually care about what goes into their bodies. These contamination issues need to be addressed appropriately. No organic or non-gmo farmer wants Monsanto’s defective seed product on their land, thus making it an invasive weed. If Monsanto can’t control where their “seed-like product” ends up then they should be responsible for the damages that it causes.

Kiwi

Living down under, i’d have to say the USA is appearing to the rest of the world a very corrupt country somewhat like a third world country with dictators. What happened to all those freedoms/amendments we used to read about. Do they not exist anymore? The USA is ruled by Corporations it seems. Not a good look to the rest if the world.

sam k

Kiwi, it looks even worse from the inside!

shanob

Pretty soon the whole world will be run by Multinational corporations. TPP is on a fast track. These multinationals care nothing for the people or this planet. they will destroy everything in the end if they are not stopped.

Kristy

Kiwi, Unfortunately that is exactly what we are becoming. The USA is not such a wonderful place as it used to be It’s all about greed anymore. I fear the day is fast coming when the citizens will tire of the politics and tyranny and we will see another revolution.

smytor

There’s a lot more anger about this than one would think. We need a good revolution every 200 years or so. We’re past due.

HuyTu

America is and will be the harbor of GMO evils. Americans are stupid sheep. They think anything technology is good. Look at the state of the USA. Pathetic. Americans are not welcome anywhere.

Steinmania

The farmers should be suing Monsanto for developing a GMO that changes the makeup of their seeds. Just like suing a chemical company for poisoning the water supply. The farmers seeds are being harmed by Monsanto.

david webster

A small farmer can not afford to fight Monsanto. In our case when Monsanto would not promise to not sue me if there genes were found in our crop. 2262221429

Fringe Films

They are the true embodiment of pure evil upon Earth.

Marcus Peabody

Burn Down Biotech Crops!!

US going downhill

Clarence Thomas is a domestic terrorist.

shanob

Anyone doubt our so called ‘Justice’ system is bought now? bought out by Multinational corporations. They should HANG THEIR COLLECTIVE HEAD IN SHAME. Or are they simply too dumb to understand the issue? They have a job for life, WTF are they destroying this nation for? For Pride? Honor? Power? What are they doing this for? Not just this issue, but all the others where they side against ordinary men in favor of corporate power..

When you’ve got a SCOTUS in the pockets of big ag like Monsanto, I can understand why people would want to sabotage. If you can’t get justice where you most expect it, then it’s time to implement vigilante justice.

FreedomFromTeaQueda

SCOTUS may rule however they want. They do not have the power of enforcement. Fk ‘em.

dave

Nothing will change. Its about power and control. Monsanto and our politicians are the same people. With the corporate based media propaghanda being shoved everywhere, we are on the losing side. The right side but the losing side.